Spiritual teachers and writers often talk about the importance of “being present” and practicing non-attachment when it comes to worries about the past and future. But how do we actually stay non-attached in practice? When difficult emotions arise or life becomes too chaotic, many of us lose sight of the practices and teachings we’ve gained in yoga or meditation.

In the latest issue of Spirituality & Health magazine, the editor-in-chief sat down with renowned spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle to discuss the practical aspects of living in the moment, and how to deal with daily challenges like anger and negative emotions.

Here are a few pearls of wisdom we gathered from the article:

On the present moment:

The actual experience of awakening can only be in the present moment.

On focusing on the future:

The future does not exist, because nobody has ever experienced it. You can only ever experience a present moment.

On global responsibility:

Your primary responsibility is your own state of consciousness. And once that is achieved, then whatever you do and whomever you come into contact with, and even many people you don’t come into direct contact with, get affected by your state of consciousness.

On the difference between being aware and being unaware of negative emotions:

[W]hen there’s a lack of awareness, then you get completely taken over by those negative feelings. There’s no inner space anymore, and you think, say, and do things that are controlled by that negative energy inside you… The difference is, when the same thing happens again and you become irritated, you become angry, whatever it is—reactive in some way—sad or depressed, there’s an awareness that this is happening to you. You have the observing presence in the background that’s more who you are rather than the emotion. You are still there as it happens.

On engaging in “awakened doing”:

Awakened doing is when you don’t create suffering anymore for others—or for yourself—by your own actions. It also implies that your primary intention, the focus of your attention, is on the “doing” in the present moment, rather than the result that you want to achieve through it.

We hope you find these quotes as inspiring as we did, and grab a copy of Spirituality & Health to read the rest of this amazing interview!

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Read the entire conversation with Eckhart Tolle in the May-June edition of Spirituality & Health, on newsstands now! The issue also features: